|
23 Championship Games This Weekend? - 5 Like(s)
Split season makes no difference to club season. The Longford championship is due to start around the same time it always has in late July, early August. The leagues are only starting this weekend. We have always had to play league games after championship and for the last few years in the middle of championship.
Clubs don't want the championship starting any earlier as they want their players back from America to play in championship, I'd imagine its the same in every county.
I think the GAA will eventually realise that it doesn't really benefit clubs by having the All-Ireland Final in July and it'll end up in late August.
In Longford we started training in January as did other clubs. No fixtures released until March and they have changed week on week. We have players away for an upcoming game because they booked to go to a Premier League game on a date there was no game fixed for. So we have had to wait months for master fixture list, months for a competitive game and then it doesn't start when it was supposed to but on another date that was supposed to be free.
If a county like Longford who essentially have no hurling and are guaranteed to be finished championship early can't provide fixtures in a proper manner to satisfy the vast majority of players then I don't see how the split season will benefit anyone. For me its a simple fix, start the season early, get all league games out of the way before championship and don't hold up any league games for county players of any level, if they are available, if not then get on with it. Players not getting game time with county are released back to club for league games and all county players back a month before championship to play challenges or whatever.
Mull93 (National) - 21/04/2022 15:35:25
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To LongfordgaaAbú: "96th loss alongside 14 draws and just 50 wins in 160 Leinster senior championship games according to the stats guys. Looks even worse if you look at just this century. Another summer where the Leinster competition is an irrelevance for Longford. I'm shocked, shocked I tells ya!" Like I have said before, I am a great fan of the statistics and it does show that Longford don't get much out of the Leinster Championship but the fact is that Longford should at the very least be able to put up a good performance against a poor Westmeath team. Statistics don't come into that. Questionable decisions on the line were an issue and a lack of tactics. It reminded me of Brian Kerr years ago with Ireland when he used to put Gary Doherty up front in desperation. Longford were a bit like that yesterday. No hint of a tactic and then when we were 12 points down it was real desperation stuff by putting your full back and centre back up front.
The Tailteann Cup could be quite demolishing if we don't get a good draw because we could potentially get Cavan, Westmeath, Tipperary and to be honest a good few other teams who are better organised then us.
Bottom line is that regardless of whether we are Leinster or Tailteann Cup the statistics are going to show more losses then wins if we can't be better organised then then what we saw yesterday.
Mull93 (National) - 01/05/2022 15:24:40
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 2 Like(s)
Replying To LongfordgaaAbú: "I don't think management are getting a pass (lots of criticism on here, some fair, some not), but having avoided relegation when it looked a dead cert, there is enough there for Billy to have a second year to work at. What gain would there be for Longford to get rid of him now? We were the second last county to secure a manager last year, and just in the nick of time before start of competition. Managers are not lining up around the block to take the job. If he doesn't perform next season that will be that, but in meantime if he wants to try something different so be it, it's not as if the old management techniques were working fierce well for us. We would shoot ourselves in the foot by knee-jerking at this point. (lots of anatomical references there I know, but shur i'm a dab hand at it)." The set-up shouldn't get a pass. If you talk the talk in an interview then you got to walk the walk when the games start. The only way this team went this year was backwards. It was the worst championship campaign that I can remember, 2 games and 2 losses, when did that happen before?
Did we do as well in the league as we should have? No, it was the worst Division 3 in years with a team who were in Division 4 the previous year and a team who were in Division 4 two years previous getting promoted. The manager talked about promotion at the start and revised it at the end to say it was great to stay up in Division 3. Great for who?
Did we get the best out the players available? No, I saw no signs of progression in any of the players with maybe the exception of James Moran and Iarla O'Sullivan. Everyone else was the same level "at best".
Did we see a defined style of play? No. What we saw was some great individual performances at times but never a coherent team performance. Maybe the manager isn't to blame here, maybe he needs a more capable coach. In most modern intercounty set-ups the manager manages and the coach or coaches coach. Maybe that is where we fell down.
Did the championship go well? No, a complete disaster. Really disappointing against Westmeath and then a really deflating Tailteann Cup experience.
Mull93 (National) - 09/06/2022 15:05:08
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To LongfordgaaAbú: "I assume when you say 'worst division 3 in years' you mean worst since 2017 under Connerton when we also finished 6th in Division 3 in a weak division where the winner was promoted from Division 4 the previous year (Louth)?
Is it really the worst championship campaign you can remember? In 2018 we beat a very poor Meath team in Leinster, then got hammered by Dublin by 19 points (a day many of us can't forget), and were dumped out of the Qualifiers by Kildare. In 2008 we were beaten by Westmeath in Leinster and dumped out of the qualifiers by Louth. In 2005 we got beaten by Dublin in Leinster again by 19 points, and dumped out of the qualifiers by Sligo. In 2003 we lost in Leinster to Kildare and were dumped out of the qualifiers by Donegal. The fragrance from those seasons doesn't exactly live long in the nostrils either and I won't go back to the 1990's for fear it might trigger PTSD among readers (remember the hammering by Offaly in 1997 by 19 points).
This year was poor for sure, but I don't think it is an outlier or the worst in recent memory. That said, criticisms of the management and setup are entirely right and proper because in no way did we perform anywhere close to what was planned or expected. They will have all their work ahead of them next year." The win against Meath in 2018 was a big win and it was a championship win. During that period, and still now, everyone got well beaten by Dublin. That wasn't the managers fault, it was the All-Ireland champions not a Division 3 team playing at your own level.
In 2017 there were stronger teams in the league. It was a poor campaign but in comparison to this one it was a better year.
I think what we all want to see next year above anything else is progress. While there is no justification for keeping the same management team, if its the case we do then we need a new coach and S & C. It made a big difference during Connertons time.
Mull93 (National) - 11/06/2022 10:28:43
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Credit where it is due, really good performance today. It was a bonus that it was the only game this year I didn't come home from cold and wet!!
Mikey Quinn was immense today but the whole team played well.
We should be ok to avoid relegation now but should never have had to worry about it.
It backs up my point at the start of the year that this is a very weak division 3 this year.
Mull93 (National) - 05/03/2022 17:57:30
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To arcadia: "His mandate will be to retain Division 3 status and put up a good showing in Leinster (i.e. beat any Division 4 guys and not get hockied by the rest). Beyond that there is little he can realistically do. The squad is what it is, the infrastructure around the county setup is threadbare, the quality of club football is not the best right now, a few key guys are edging closer to retirement age, and the youth pipeline is sluggish (fair play to U16's on Fr. Manning Cup, hopefully that indicates promise in the future). I'd be surprised if we avoid Division 4 drop in next few seasons, but let's see - a new face can reset things a bit and Davis was clearly at the end of what he could achieve, so lets see.
I'd have given Liam Keenan the job in a heartbeat. Slashers have chosen well there and will likely reap the rewards in next couple of seasons too if they let him do his thing." Liam Keenan should have got the job and he was interested but didn't get an interview. Questions have to be asked how it was the case that someone from outside the county with no experieince got the top job in the county.
How does the process work? Does anyone know what the criteria for getting an interview was? It doesn't seem to have been too high.
If all we are asking someone to do is keep us up in Division 3 then it says a lot. Division 3 is the weakest it has been for years. Previously you'd have a few teams like Cork, Derry, Down etc who were out of place in the division. This year if anyone is out of place then its the likes of Wicklow, Louth, Antrim and Limerick. They would all ordinarly be in Division 4. If we are not in the promotion hunt in we may forget about it. As for the championship, we have Westmeath in quarter final. Theres no reason we shouldn't beat them, they are our level.
The standard of the top clubs in the county is as good as any other county. Lets not forget Mullinactha were Leinster Champions in 2018 and we haven't exactly had it all our own way in Longford since. There is enough talent in the county that we should be looking to do well. To get the most out of the talent we needed a Longford man who knows what we have or an experienced manager to get the best out of what we have. If we have a poor season it won't be because we haven't got the talent or because the teams we are playing in Division 3 and quarter final of championship are better than us.
Mull93 (National) - 04/12/2021 17:47:44
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To LongfordgaaAbú: "The O'Byrne Cup is a perfectly fine challenge-game style competition and is important to iron out creases ahead of the League. The Leinster Championship is an irrelevance. The new manager didn't do himself any harm at all by calling a spade a spade in his recent media interview. Good not to have someone at the helm who lives in cloud cuckoo land wrt the Leinster 'competition'. More of that please." Didn't do himself any harm? Am I missing the scarcasm?
Sure Dennis Connerton and Padraic Davis have said this previously. Everyone knows this, its hardly rocket science. If this is what we are stretching to to find praise for the new manager then God help us.
Mull93 (National) - 18/01/2022 21:04:31
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To gaasport: "Can longford survive in Div 3 if we beat Laoise I think the winner on the day overrides scoring difference" They can, but don't be rushing down to the bookies...
Mull93 (National) - 20/03/2022 20:21:04
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
We'll need to concentrate on Division 3 now!
He got the starting team all wrong and too slow to make changes.
Robbie Smyth should have started. He is arguably the best forward in the county. He has to start all the big games.
Darragh Doherty was possibly the stand out forward in the senior championship in 2021 and played well in O'Byrne Cup, how did he not start?
I'm sure the two lads were scratching their heads in wonder on the bench.
How some players were put in certain positions I don't know. I also don't know how all the "ordinary joes" in the stand could see the issues and the "manager" didn't make any meaningful changes until half time.
This wasn't a case of losing a game because we hadn't got the players. It was a case of losing a game because the strongest team didn't start and we didn't have players in the right positions.
In fairness to the players they never gave up, they kept battling but when you are up against it if management don't get their part right.
Louth is a must win now. We have a good record against Louth, its at home and they are coming up from Division 4. No reason now that the strongest team available can't start and have the players in the correct positions.
Mull93 (National) - 30/01/2022 09:51:09
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
That was a hard watch today. Between the weather and the performance you'd hope it can't be as bad the next day. We are lucky there are so many poor teams in the division and we should have the players to beat the likes of Wicklow, Antrim and Fermanagh.
We really should have been making progress this year in the weakest Division 3 that I can remember, instead we are looking for enough points to stay up. On the other hand someone that was apparently interested in the Longford job before being messed around is doing a great job with Leitrim. Listening to Shannonside on the way home from the game they seem to be playing good football too.
Mull93 (National) - 06/02/2022 19:12:33
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To Spinx: "Do we think the County Board will release a master fixture list before the summer?
Even dates of when league fixtures will be on would be a start.
It's worse this county is getting." I'm not aware of another county that don't know at least when their leagues are going to start. Its a crazy situation. How can it be that hard to at least say to clubs this is the start date for the leagues. It gives clubs a date to work towards. Many of us would like to book holidays or at least know when there is a possibility that we could go on holidays. Its no wonder so many fella's lose interest in the game. Is this sort of thing never called out at County Board meetings?
Mull93 (National) - 16/02/2023 20:29:39
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To slasher9: "As bad if not worse then last week. That said should of won at the end were it not for giving away the ball needlessly along with the ref playing for the draw. Impressed with James Moran but thats about it, more experienced players not showing at the moment. Can't put that on the manager." Your either Billy O'Loughlin or you were on the committee that interviewed him.
If you really want to know how good the set up is then talk to any of the lads on the panel.
Mull93 (National) - 06/02/2022 20:02:51
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Replying To slasher9: "we need to be realistic. we werent goimg to get a top longford man as they know we dont have the players and we dont have the resources then to attract a so called big name. give the man a chance i say could be as good as anyone. no chance of a new top table, no one in there right mind would want those jobs" There were enough Longford people interested in it initially that we could have got a good Longford man. Compare this mans CV to Liam Keenan, a good Longford man. I know Liam would have taken it but he is not a man to be made look like a fool and that's the way it was looking with the long drawn out process.
Surely of all the men that did an interview this man wasn't the the one with the best "pedigree".
We do have limited resources and generally punch above our weight. No Longford team ever lacks heart and I don't think they will this year either but for us to maximise what we have in the county we need to be getting as many of our best players out as possible. I know we won't this year.
Mull93 (National) - 01/12/2021 11:10:48
|
|
Longford GAA thread - 1 Like(s)
Coaching is always going to be the biggest issue with hurling taking off. The only way it would take off is if GAA HQ took a long term view and put a number of paid hurling coaches in the county who would essentially work with all the underage teams in a few strategically chosen clubs.
Starting off, the obvious would be Mostrim, Clonguish and Slashers. Ballymahon had a team and maybe that would be an area as they'd also have the population or maybe Ballymahon/Kenagh. Maybe Granard and Lanesborough. 6 would be double the current clubs but there'd have to be patience as it would take a long time for it to produce adult teams.
Mull93 (National) - 11/02/2023 18:09:47
|